Abstract
Grasslands in the Andean highlands plateau of southern Peru have been considered as a single and homogeneous dry habitat also known as Puna. However, in some regions, a highest rainfall regimen is found, and the name of wet puna has begun to be used by some authors. Since no studies have been carrying out specifically to test if dry and wet puna are different ecological units, we chose two representative localities of each one of these habitat to evaluate assemblages of bird and mammal communities and their continuity or independence between these apparently similar habitats. Our results suggest that wet puna has different mammal diversity than dry puna, and a heterogeneous bird community with species that have been previously reported exclusively in paramo or exclusively in puna. In spite of the apparent uniform flora in the Andean highlands of South Peru, data suggest that rainfall regimens produce a mosaic of habitats that will be determining ecological barriers for terrestrial mammals, in particular for small mammals.
Highlights
Two major ecological units have been distinguished in the Andean Highlands above 3 300 m
BIRDS.- A total of 56 bird species were recorded in Acjanaco (Cosñipata drainage), 10 of which constitute new records for this locality, increasing their bird richness to 113 species, five of them are new records for the Manu Biosphera Reserve (MBR)
In the upper montane forest of Acjanaco, many bird species were conspicuous for their colorful plumage, mainly tanagers and hummingbirds, birds in the other three study areas were less colourful
Summary
Two major ecological units have been distinguished in the Andean Highlands above 3 300 m. In most of Peru and southward this altitudinal zone is known as “Puna” (Reig, 1986; Young et al, 1997), whereas from Colombia and western Venezuela through most of Colombia and Ecuador up to northern Peru as “paramo” (Cuatrecasas, 1957; Vuilleumier, 1979). In general the Peruvian puna is relatively dry (Young et al, 1997), but wetter areas in northern Peru are distinguished by the term “jalca” (Weberbauer, 1945), and in southern Peru as wet Puna (Tossi, 1960; Troll, 1968). Relatively small areas of Puna are included within protected areas in southern Peru. Two other protected areas that include highlands in the Southern Peru are Salinas y Aguada Blanca National Reserve, and Aymara-Lupaca Reserved Zone
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